Windows 7 Installation Issue

I am upgrading to Windows 7 on my laptop. When I inserted the disk it went through some of the installation then when it got to the Expanding Windows Files I got an error message. I looked it up and everything I read pointed to my dvd drive. I was told to bypass it you either by an external drive or use a usb thumdrive. I had an 8GB one laying around, followed all the steps on http://technet.microsoft.com/en-us/edge/installing-win7..., it installed fairly fast, now I'm stuck on the Completing Installation part for about 30-45 minutes now, is this normal? From what I've read it works for alot of people if they remove all their USB devices however thats what I have Win 7 on. Would I still need it in my usb port? Or could I take it out since its on the completing installation step and everything is already copied over? I can post my comp specs here if that would help anyone. It's possible I'm just anxious and it could normally take this amount of time on a Laptop. It's somewhat new Dell Studio XPS with what i would say above average specs. Thanks in advance




Jake